


Lean On My Pride

by jacobperalta



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Pride, Quinn and Sam are best of friends, as always, but i got carried away, this was supposed to be a quick one shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24540460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacobperalta/pseuds/jacobperalta
Summary: "At first, she doesn’t understand what Sam means but a quick google search tells her everything she needs to know. June is pride month. It’s the first June she’s going to spend as a lesbian."ORFour pride months in Quinn Fabray's life.
Relationships: Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray
Comments: 13
Kudos: 164





	Lean On My Pride

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I thought this would be a nice piece to make since pride month just started and since I'm always thinking about Quinn, I thought I would write this! hope you guys enjoy! This didn't turn out quite how I expected it to but I still think it's acceptable lmao I hope you guys think so too. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of their characters

**June 2012**

\---

Quinn wakes up on the first of June 2012 with an interesting text in her inbox.

_ Shammy: _

Happy pride month, Quinn!

At first, she doesn’t understand what Sam means but a quick google search tells her everything she needs to know. June is pride month. It’s the first June she’s going to spend as a lesbian. She only came to terms with it early this school year during the whole skank phase and the only person that knows is Sam because she came out to her best friend about three months ago. She knows technically she could tell Santana and Brittany since they’re out at school together but she hasn’t gathered the courage to do so yet. Sam, on the other hand, as always been so kind to her and even when they broke up due to the fact that they found out they work way better as friends, he never once betrayed her trust. He knows that her dad is probably having an affair, that her mom drinks to cope with it and that Quinn doesn’t feel all that safe in her house sometimes and he never once told anyone else about that. He’s always been there for her and she knew he wouldn’t look at her any differently when she came out to him. 

_ They were sitting on his bed, playing some video game while his parents and siblings were gone to see Stevie’s soccer game. She was currently crushing him at the game and he kept just laughing it off and she felt happy in this moment and it felt right. _

_ “Sham,” she starts but suddenly the words get stuck in her throat and holy shit, this is harder than anticipated. Her heart is beating fast and she feels as though the controller will slip from her hands by how sweaty they are.  _

_ “Yeah?” he says, eyes still on the screen.  _

_ “I’m--” Is it hot in here? It feels way hotter than usual. Come on Quinn, just say it. Rip it off like a bandaid. It’ll be okay. “I’m… gay.” _

_ He turns to her with wide eyes and he must catch her anxious eyes because he relaxes his face and smiles.  _

_ “That’s cool.” _

_ “W--what?” Cool? That’s all? _ _  
_ _  
_ _ “Well yeah. Cause now we can talk about girls together,” he says in a shrug and Quinn can only blink at him. He bursts out in laughter and the blonde girl manages to crack a smile. “I love you, Q. This isn’t a big deal.” _

_  
_ _ “It’s not?” she says, almost surprised. She knows it’ll be a big deal for her parents. How can it not be for him?  _

_ “Not to me. Besides, I think I might like girls and boys so I guess I’m half gay.” _

_ She looks up at him, almost fascinated by his reaction. This doesn’t change anything. They’re still breathing, they’re still best friends, Quinn is still happy.  _

_ “Cool,” she says and he laughs.  _

_ “Cool.” _

_ And then Quinn kills his character in the game. _

The day after, when she got to school, everything was the same and it’s still the same to this day. Nobody knows she’s gay except Sam and she knows he won’t tell a soul. The only time they talk about it is when he makes fun of her crush on Rachel but even then, it’s not even about the fact that she’s gay, it’s about the fact that the former head cheerleader of the school managed to crush on the girl she used to bully. Sam likes to laugh at her and tell her “Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it Quinnie?”

He’s an idiot, really but she loves him.

_ Quinnie: _

Thanks, Sam. Happy pride month to you, too.

She feels almost giddy typing that message and right now she doesn’t feel the fear that her parents are downstairs and that they’d kick her out if they ever found out their daughter is a lesbian. She only feels the happiness that comes with the fact that this is pride month and she knows who she is this year and she deserves to celebrate it, even if it’s behind closed doors. It’s been a long process to get where she is now, she dated many boys in hopes that she would finally feel what she’s supposed to feel and when Sam appeared and was supposedly the perfect guy for her and she still couldn’t bear to kiss him; she knew she couldn’t pretend everything was normal anymore. It’s been a lot of crying herself to sleep and anger but she’s managed to accept the truth; she is gay.

_ Shammy: _

Keep June 15th free

_ Quinnie: _

Why?

He never answers her and she only finds out on the day of. He picks her up at 10 AM and when she tells her mom she’s spending the day with Sam, she gives her that secret smile and tells her to have fun.

She thinks her mom still thinks they’re dating and they’re gonna get married and have blonde babies which is just… no. Even if she wasn’t gay, this guy has become her brother at this point and just thinking of the fact that they used to kiss makes her cringe.

She opens the door to his car and he moves his backpack that was on her seat to the backseat.

“Yo,” he greets her with a smile. 

“Hey,” she says, eyeing the backpack. “What’s in there?”   
  


“Everything we need for the day,” he says, putting the car in drive. “Sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottles and I made us sandwiches.”

She looks at him, “Where the hell are we going?”

“Columbus,” he replies easily and she chokes on her saliva.

“W- What? Why?”

“Because what we’re doing today is in Columbus.”

“Sham--” she says, looking at the backpack again but he cuts her off.

“It’ll be cool, Quinn. Trust me,” he says, glancing at her to wink and he puts on the radio. She does trust him so she leans back in her seat as they listen to music the entire time, only stopping to pee once and time passes faster than she expected it to and after 2 hours of intense singing and aggressive arguing over which horror game is the best horror game, they make it to Columbus. 

They’re currently looking for a parking space and she sighs, her fingers on her temple. “What’s even going on today? Why is there so many people?” She’s about to ask him another question when she spots it. A gay flag. She straightens in her seat and looks more intently and it’s not long that they turn a corner and suddenly there’s way more than just one flag, there’s a least a dozen. 

“Sam--”

“There’s one!” he shouts in victory when he sees an empty space and he parallel parks on one of the streets. Without even telling her anything, he grabs his backpack and gets out of the car. Her heart is hammering in her chest as she gets out and watches him pay the meter. 

“Sam, I can’t--”

He digs into his backpack and pulls out two baseball caps and two pairs of sunglasses. “Here,” he says handing one of each to her. He puts his sunglasses on but it’s like Quinn can’t move; she’s frozen in space. Sure, she’s okay with the fact that she’s gay now but that doesn’t mean she wants people to know and if they run into someone they know, who knows what’ll happen. Sam looks at her and smiles kindly, he takes the hat and puts it on her head and she frowns when her hair gets tangled in it. “Quinn, there’s about 800 thousand people that attend pride here each year. We won’t run into anybody we know and if we do, we can say it’s for me and that you’re a straight ally.” She frowns at the thought of that. She’s not ashamed of being gay, she just realizes that being out in Lima, especially as a Fabray, is not an option.

She looks around, seeing the people walk beside them to get to the main street where the parade is happening. Some of them have flags on their backs like capes and some are waving tiny flags in their hands. She smiles shyly at them, watching them with avid eyes. When she looks back at her best friend, he’s also looking at them with a smile. He turns to her, grins that smile that always makes her feel safe and he puts his arm around her shoulders. She pushes him off laughing and he chuckles before bowing a little, reaching his hand out. 

“Shall we, m'lady?” he says in an awful british accent and she rolls her eyes, smacks his hand and starts walking. She hears him jog after her in a laugh and she can’t control her smile.

When they reach the main street, what she sees completely takes her breath away. She sees hundreds of people on the side of the street watching people in carts or walking waving around flags of every sexuality. People have signs and they’re dancing around and every one has the biggest smile she’s ever seen on their faces and everyone looks exhilarated. She can feel her entire body buzzing with excitement and even though she’s annoyed that Sam blindsided her, she can’t deny this is an amazing surprise. She never would have been able to do this step by herself, but being here now, surrounded by people who are unashamed of being so out and proud, makes her happy. She hopes one day she’ll be like that. 

She turns to thank him and suddenly he’s not by her side and her eyes widen. She looks frantically to her left and right and she’s about to freak out when she spots his blonde hair above the heads of some people. She watches him talk to another person but she can’t see what they’re doing. Then he turns around and he’s only two tiny flags in his hands. One bisexual and one lesbian. She feels her heart tighten in her chest as he walks back to her and hands her the lesbian flag without a word. She looks around her as if she’ll see someone she recognizes but instead, she finds people cheering at the drag queens in the streets. She looks back at the flag in her best friend’s hand and raises a shaky hand. Sam waits patiently and she finally closes her hand on the flag and brings it to her chest. He grins and smacks her cap to annoy her so she pushes him and he snorts before looking back at the street and she does the same. 

At one point, they find a nice spot on the grass where they can still the people wave their flags and eat their lunch at the same time. The grass is tickling her thighs and the sun is beaming down on her and she knows even though she put on sunscreen, she’ll be red tomorrow. She finishes her sandwich and she can’t even describe the feeling she gets when she sees couples of the same sex holding hands. She can’t even imagine being that lucky one day because right now, she still lives in Lima and she still has a family who wouldn’t accept her. What do you do in that situation?

“You think we’ll be able to do that someday?” she says, looking at two girls jumping up and down while holding hands. Sam looks around to find what she’s looking at and then through his mouth full, he says:

“Yeah, for sure.” She looks at him and he swallows his bite, “You’re getting out of Lima, Quinn. You’re going to Yale next year and you’ll meet a whole new world. You’ll be away from your parents and people are way more accepting in Connecticut.”

She sighs. “I wish you were coming with me,” she admits. It’s hard for her to admit that she needs people but she’s truly going to miss him next year when she’s far away from here and he’ll still be stuck in Lima. She knows they’ll keep in touch but it’s still weird to think soon they won’t be able to spend every weekend together holed up in his room, playing video games and watching horror movies. She’s going to feel so alone. 

“Hey,” he says, sitting closer to her. “It’ll be fine, Q. Look at you, all the girls are going to be after you at Yale, you’ll forget about me.”

She releases a breathy laugh and he squeezes her shoulder in compassion. They stay a couple of minutes in silence until two guys walk in front of them and one of them does a double look at Sam and stops walking. Quinn watches intently as he walks towards them.

“Hey,” the guy says with a crooked smile and Sam looks up in surprise. 

“Hey dude,” he says casually which makes Quinn snicker.

“Me and my buddy are going down to the bar down the street, you wanna tag along?”

Sam looks at Quinn who laughs at him and he turns back to the stranger, squinting his eyes because of the blinding sun, “We’re underage.”

“Damn, how old are you?”

“I’m 17,” he says and the stranger’s eyes widen and he holds up his hands.

“Shit, sorry man. Have a good rest of your day,” he says before backing away and his friend laughs loudly at him and waves them goodbye. 

“What was that?” Sam says with a wide smile and Quinn punches his shoulder enthusiastically.

“You just got flirted with,” she says and he laughs. 

“Hell yeah!” he says, holding his hand up and she high-fives him, making their hands clap together loudly.

They spend the rest of the day walking the streets of Columbus with Quinn’s hand wrapped around her flag. Sam put his on the back of his cap, tucked under the strap and it looks stupid but he doesn’t care because Sam isn’t the kind of person that cares what people think of him and Quinn likes that about him. 

The drive back is spent with them talking about what they saw and how impressed they were and before she knows it, they’re back in front of her house. The place where she can’t be gay, where they’re disappointed that she’s going to Yale next year and not Harvard and where Russell loves to talk about how it’s an abomination that he has to work alongside one of Rachel’s fathers because homosexuality is a sin. Sam must feel her mood shift because he points at her shoe, where she has now hidden her flag and looks at her. She doesn’t know what’s about to come out of his mouth but she doesn’t want to hear all about how she’s valid or whatever. She knows she is, it’s her parents that think that’s not the case and she hates it. She hates living here and feeling suffocated.

“Happy pride, Quinn.” he says and she releases a breath she didn’t know she was holding. 

“Happy pride, Sam.” she replies and he reaches across the console to hug her. She closes her eyes and breathes in to relax. He smells like sunscreen and Starbursts which makes a weird combination but she still appreciates it. 

“See you tomorrow,” he says and she waves at him. 

When she enters her house, she can hear the TV playing and her mother appears and suddenly the flag under her foot feels uncomfortable. 

“Hey Quinnie. How was your day?”

“It was good,” she says vaguely and she pretends she doesn’t notice her mother’s cheeky look and she walks past her. She goes to her room and takes off her shoes. Between two shirts in her bottom drawer, she hides her lesbian flag with a teary smile and she goes in the shower to wash the day away. She feels so alone and it weighs heavy on her heart.

  
  


**June 2013**

\---

Quinn is woken up by her roommate on June 1st 2013 because Chloe drops her books on the ground and the blonde groans and turns towards the noise.

“Sorry, Q.”

She blinks her eyes open and mumbles “ ‘s fine” at Chloe and looks at the time. It’s almost 11 and she’s surprised that Chloe managed to stay silent that long because usually the girl is always talking or singing. 

She looks at the other side of the room and looks at the suitcase on her roommate’s bed and she sits up,

“Fuck, you’re leaving now?”

Chloe smiles sympathetically. “Yeah,” she pauses, “Quinn, I’m telling you you can come with m--”

“Chlo,” Quinn says, stopping her. “I’ll be fine.”

It’s June which means, most of the people who stay in the Yale dorms are going home for the summer but Quinn is not. She has no reason to. She talks to her mother once a month and it’s awkward and stilled and she doesn’t know how to answer the “So are the boys cute there?” question that her mother asks her every time. 

Chloe grabs her suitcase and opens her arms expectantly. The blonde laughs and gets up from bed to hug her ginger roommate. 

“Be good, okay? Text me.”

“Of course, Chlo.”

“And please for the love of God, don’t have sex in my bed.”

Quinn laughs and pulls away from the bed, “Shut up.”

“I’m just saying, Quinn. I’ve been out with you enough times to know how the ladies like you,” she says with a teasing smile.

Quinn rolls her eyes and lets herself fall on her bed again, “Bye Chloe. Have a good flight,” she says, face pressed against the pillow and she hears her roommate tell her a cheery goodbye and the door opens and closes. 

Quinn grabs her phone and smiles when she sees the notification she’s had two years in a row now.

_ Shammy: _

Happy pride month, you funky little lesbian!

She lets out a loud laugh and replies back. 

_ Quinnie:  _

Happy pride month, you dumbass bisexual.

_ Shammy: _

What are your plans for the first day of gay month?

_ Quinnie:  _

Dunno.

Might go to a bar later. You?

_ Shammy: _

Might spend the day with Blaine. 

She smirks at that. Her best friend hasn’t told her yet but she has a feeling he has a crush on him and since Blaine isn’t with Kurt anymore, she’s pretty sure that something is going to happen between the two of them soon.

Sam was right last year when he told her people were way more accepting here. She’s gone on a few dates and even kissed a few girls (which has been fucking amazing. Quinn is definitely a lesbian) but she has yet to find someone she really clicks with. She kinda has trouble getting past Rachel which is stupid because they’ve never even dated but for some reason, she keeps comparing every girl with the girl who made her realize she was gay in the first place and she cannot for the life of her find someone that makes her heart beat as fast as Rachel made Quinn’s heart beat. They’re still in contact with each other --Quinn doesn’t know if it’s helping her move on or just making her crush on her harder-- and it’s been nice to say the least. Since they’re not at McKinley anymore, Quinn doesn’t feel so pressured anymore to be someone she’s not and Rachel is much more laid back now. They’re become friends, actual good friends and Quinn loves it. 

_ Rachel: _

Hm I disagree. I think right now they’re singing some Journey song.

Quinn lets out a chuckle as she reads Rachel’s answer from the conversation they had last night about what the Glee club is singing right now. Quinn had said some rap song that would let Mr Schue force his students to listen to him rap again but Rachel seems to think they’d sing Journey.

_ Quinn:  _

You might have a point.

_ Rachel:  _

How are you?

_ Quinn: _

Good, Chloe just left this morning so I guess now I truly have the place for myself for the whole summer.

_ Rachel:  _

Well… if you want Santana’s going home for the summer to be with Brittany so her room is vacant. You could stay with us. 

Quinn sits up in her bed and feels her mouth dry up. Spending an entire summer with Rachel in New York City actually sounds fucking awesome.

_ Quinn: _

I wouldn’t want to impose. 

Rachel: 

Nonsense. Besides, I miss your cooking. Please come feed me. I can’t eat takeout anymore. 

The blonde lets out a small giggle and she’s really glad she’s alone because Chloe would have made fun of her relentlessly for it.

_ Quinn: _

Okay. I’m in. 

_ Rachel:  _

Great!

They arrange some plans for when Quinn can come and she stays inside pretty much all day until it hits 8 PM and she’s bored out of her mind since Rachel and Kurt are out and Sam isn’t answering her texts so she decides to go out too.

She takes a shower and makes herself pretty because you never know what can happen, dresses in jeans and a crop top and heads to the local gay bar with the fake ID that her friend from her soccer team gave her at the beginning of the first semester. 

She orders a whiskey and looks at the crowd until she feels a body slip on the stool next to her. She makes eye contact with a small brunette who nods at her kindly and she asks the bartender for a beer. The girl is wearing a sunflower dress and she has glasses on the tip of her nose and she looks beautiful. She must sense that Quinn is still watching her because she turns to her and smiles nervously. 

“Hi.”

Quinn swallows, “Hi.”

They get more drinks together and Quinn learns that her name is Ashley and she’s one of the greatest dancer Quinn has ever danced with. She reminds her of Brittany in the way she moves so sensually and it drives Quinn insane. It doesn’t take long before Ashley’s practically grinding on her and one thing leads to another and before Quinn knows it, the blonde is falling onto her bed on top of Ashley. 

Quinn wakes up on the second day of pride month after her first ever hook up with a girl with a killer hangover, naked in her empty bed. She shifts, groaning slightly by how bright it is and stops moving when the nausea hits. It thankfully passes and she grabs her phone to check the time. She frowns when she sees a weird text from Rachel.

_ Rachel: _

Right well I think this text was supposed to go to Sam but I can still wish you luck! I hope the girl was pretty ;)

She rubs her eyes sleepily and her jaw falls on the floor when she sees the text she sent Rachel before.

_ Quinn: _

SHAM IM KIDNA DRUNK RN AND I THINK IM ABOUT TO HOOK UP WITH THIS GIRL WIHS ME LUCK

  
  


Well this is fucking embarrassing. 

Other than Sam, no one from her past life knew that she was gay. There was no reason really because she knows Rachel, Kurt and Santana would have no problem with it obviously but she just didn’t feel ready to announce it to the people who’ve known her for years. It was never made a big thing at college and Chloe was bisexual and she had a girlfriend back home so she obviously didn’t mind that Quinn liked girls so everyone here knew she liked girls except for her friends in New York. She planned on coming out to them one day but definitely not like this. 

_ Quinn:  _

Oh my God, this is so embarrassing. I’m so sorry. I obviously meant to text Sam. Fuck.

_ Rachel:  _

Don’t worry haha! I take it you had fun last night? ;)

_ Quinn: _

Please don’t.

_ Rachel:  _

Come on, spill the gossip!

_ Quinn:  _

You’re hanging out with Kurt too much.

_ Rachel:  _

You might have a point.

So…

_ Quinn: _

So…

_ Rachel: _

Can I ask you a question?

Quinn laughs and instantly stops when she feels her head turn. She takes a few breaths and lays back down on her bed. She didn’t expect anything less from Rachel. She just wished this wasn’t happening over text.

_ Quinn: _

Sure.

_ Rachel: _

So are you into women?

Quinn inhales shakily and exhales after five seconds. This is her first time ever officially coming out to someone and it’s the girl who still occupies a part of her mind as her crush, for fuck’s sake. 

_ Quinn: _

Yeah. 

I’m gay.

She waits seconds that feel like hours, watching the bubble with a racing heart that indicates Rachel is typing. 

_ Rachel: _

Oh. Wow. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t really expecting that but I’m proud of you, Quinn. That’s amazing and even though you didn’t mean to text me, I still appreciate you telling me. 

I’m into women too, by the way. I’m bi. Just thought you should know. 

Oh. Holy shit. Rachel likes girls. No big deal, just the girl who’s she had a crush on before she even realized she liked girls is also into women which means that technically, she could have had a chance. 

_ Quinn: _

Thanks. I was planning on telling you soon since we are friends, I’m just sorry you had to learn about it this way.

_ Rachel:  _

Don’t be sorry! I’m glad you had fun *wink wink*

Still so weird, having you call me a friend.

_ Quinn: _

Well I wouldn’t agree to go spend a summer with anybody :)

When she goes to New York City that year, Rachel hugs her for at least 5 minutes when she gets there and she ends up going to New York Pride with Rachel, Kurt and Santana. The whole day is spent in giggles and singing and Quinn feels even more at home that she did last year. She buys a lesbian flag, just like Sam did for her last time and she hangs it up in her room when she goes back to her dorm at the end of the summer. She misses Sam but she doesn’t feel so alone anymore. 

  
  


**June 2014**

\---

Quinn wakes up on the first day of June 2014 with a body in her arms and her face in dark hair. She sighs contently and feels the person in her arms move to face her. Quinn keeps her eyes closed and she feels a hand trace her jawline.

“Good morning.”

‘Mm,” Quinn answers and lips kiss her nose and her eyes flutter open. She makes eye contact with blue eyes and the butterflies swarm in her stomach. “Morning, babe.”

This thing between her and Erin is new. She met the girl at one of her soccer game earlier this year and they’ve only been officially going out for a month but Quinn is happy with her. She’s a tall brunette that studies Political Science at Yale and they instantly hit it off when they started talking literature together. Her parents don’t know about her yet because they still don’t know she’s gay but everyone else is really happy for her. 

Sam is now in New York with Blaine and they’re very happy together. Sam and Erin have hit off pretty well and she’s glad because it’s important that her girlfriend and her best friend get along but they’ve only really met once since NYC is three hours away and Erin happens to hate New York so Quinn doesn’t get to see her friends in the city as much as she’d like to. Kurt and Santana have both moved out of the flat and right now, Sam and Blaine are staying with Rachel until they find an apartment and according to Blaine, Sam and Rachel become kind of chaotic together which is kinda sweet honestly. Apparently, both of them tried to cook something for Blaine once and they had to evacuate the building after the fire alarm went off. 

Erin slips out of bed after a kiss to go to the bathroom and Quinn takes the time to check her phone.

_ Shammy: _

Happy pride month to you and your lesbian!

_ Rachel: _

Hey! We haven't had time to discuss what you’ll be doing for this year’s pride! You wanna come with me to NYC pride? Sam and Blaine will be there!

She answers Sam first:

_ Quinnie: _

Happy pride month to you and your gay!

Erin comes out of the bathroom and Quinn leans up to rest her head on the headboard and she looks at her girlfriend.

“Hey, you want to go to New York pride this summer?”

Erin instantly frowns, “Do we have to? You know I hate New York.”

Quinn pouts and pats the bed so Erin can come back to bed. The brunette obliges and rests her head on Quinn’s lap. “But I went last year and it’s really fun. Plus Sam and Rachel and Blaine are going so--” Erin cuts her off with a groan and the blonde’s brows furrow, “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just…Rachel. She kind of gets on my nerves.”

“What?” Quinn says, a bad feeling on her stomach.

Erin shrugs, “I don’t know. She just talks a bit too much for my taste. I didn’t want to say anything when she was there but yeah, she’s just kind of annoying.”

“Huh, well--”

“Babe,” Erin says, sitting up and leaning closer. “Let’s just go to pride here.”

“I mean--”

Her girlfriend starts kissing her cheek and then she moves downwards to kiss her neck and Quinn shuts her mouth. 

“It’ll be fun, right? Just the two of us.”

Quinn can only nod because her girlfriend is sucking on the spot she knows she likes on her neck and then Erin moves so they can kiss and Quinn forgets all about New York pride because the brunette is making her lay down on the bed again. 

Quinn only checks her phone again when Erin goes to take a shower and she answers Rachel.

_ Quinn:  _

I think I might actually spend it with Erin here.

_ Rachel: _

Oh.

_ Quinn: _

Oh?

_ Rachel: _

It’s just…

No, nothing. Nevermind.

_ Quinn: _

Tell me.   
  
_ Rachel: _

Just thought you’d want to spend pride here since we had so much fun last year and this year, your best friend is also here.

_ Quinn: _

Well Erin doesn’t really like New York so…

She prefers not to add the fact that Erin also suddenly doesn’t like Rachel which makes Quinn feel kind of uneasy. Rachel is one of the most important people in Quinn’s life at this point and she doesn’t know how to feel about the fact that Erin finds her annoying.

_ Rachel: _

Of course she doesn’t.

_ Quinn: _

What does that mean?   
  


_ Rachel: _

Nothing.

_ Quinn: _

Rach, just tell me.

_ Rachel: _

I just don’t think Erin really deserves you. I don’t trust her.

Well. Seems it goes both ways then. Quinn shifts on her bed and makes sure the water is still going and answers Rachel.

_ Quinn: _

I like her. 

_ Rachel:  _

Fine.

Quinn doesn’t understand why Rachel is reacting that way and she never manages to come up with an answer. 

She goes to pride in New Haven with Erin and she buys another tiny lesbian flag because she likes to think it’s her own little tradition and she spends the day holding hands with her girlfriend and she even walks a couple of miles in the parade when they spot some people they know that are marching in the parade. Sam is kind of annoyed at her for not coming to spend it with them and Rachel hasn’t answered her texts all day and every time she sees a picture of her friends in New York City, she kind of regrets not insisting further. She misses her friends so much and Erin is growing colder everyday.

A month later, she finds out Erin’s been cheating on her the whole time. She instantly goes to New York and spends the whole weekend sandwiched between Sam and Rachel who are smothering her in hugs. She’s not alone, she needs to keep repeating to herself that. 

  
  


**June 2015**

\---

June 1st 2015. Quinn wakes up when a rogue arm hits her on the stomach and she looks to her right and chuckles when she sees her girlfriend sleeping in a star-like position with her mouth slightly ajar. Her girlfriend’s always been a star, she’s not surprised. She admires the girl sleeping next to her for a few minutes. She admires the tanned skin and the dark brown hair covering the pillow and the way her shirts ride up so she can see her abdomen and Quinn wants to leave kisses everywhere on her perfect skin.

In her inbox, there’s the text that she finds every single year.

_ Shammy: _

Happy pride month, you lucky lesbian!

_ Quinnie:  _

Happy pride Sham :) This year is going to be a good one, I can feel it. 

Since last June a lot of shit has happened. She got cheated on by Erin and fell into a pit where she started sleeping with girls  _ a lot _ as a way to cope which just made her feel even more miserable. Which ended with her parents finding out she’s gay when they gave her a surprised visit in her dorm room and found a half naked girl in bed with her. There was a lot of yelling, some slapping and Quinn ended up basically parentless. Her father made it clear he didn’t even want to hear from her ever again.

She went into a dark place after that, feeling numb over the whole thing and her grades took a huge hit. She wasn’t able to get out of bed anymore and Chloe was the only person she communicated with since she stopped answering her phone. After a few weeks of moping, Sam and Rachel both knocked on her dorm room and got her out of bed. Slowly, they made her feel better by making her understand  _ they _ were her family, not the Fabrays. She stopped laying around in bed all day, her grades went up again and most importantly, she also stopped sleeping with random girls all the time. 

“Baby,” a voice whines next to her and Quinn turns to look at her girlfriend.

She stopped sleeping with random girls because her crush on Rachel came back and for some reason Quinn still doesn’t understand, Rachel liked her back. 

“Yeah, Rach?”

“Why are you so far away? Come cuddle me.”

“I wouldn’t be far away if you didn’t hit me in the stomach while taking all the space,” Quinn says in a soft voice while moving closer to Rachel and the brunette pouts before hiding her face in the crook of her neck.

“Too early for complaints.”

The blonde chuckles and she feels Rachel’s hand slip under her shirt to trace her stomach with her fingers and Quinn closes her eyes, enjoying the way it feels to be so close to Rachel. They started dating during Christmas break earlier this year when Quinn went to spend her break with Rachel, Sam and Blaine. At this point, her crush on Rachel was going full swing and Sam put mistletoe on all the doorways of the apartment and Rachel and Quinn had the most cliché first kiss possible all thanks to her best friend. 

She can still remember the way Sam had shouted “it’s a Christmas miracle!” while Quinn had her lips attached to Rachel, pinning her to the doorway as the kiss grew deeper and the way Blaine smacked his boyfriend’s shoulder and said “Shut up, Sam. You’re ruining it.”

“What are you thinking about?” is mumbled into her neck and Quinn smiles.

“Our first kiss.”

Rachel pulls away to look at her and the blonde can  _ see _ how much Rachel loves her in the way she looks at her and it still sends shivers down her spine. She never thought anyone would ever look at her like that, especially not Rachel Berry. 

“You’re cute,” Rachel teases her and the blonde blushes slightly. “We have to thank Sam for basically forcing us to kiss. I can’t believe you’ve liked me for that long.”

“It’s always been you, Rachel.” Quinn says, looking deeply in those chocolate colored eyes. The brunette softens and closes the distance between them, pressing a chaste kiss on her lips.

“Do you think we wasted time? We could have been together for so long.”

Quinn thinks about it for a second and shakes her head, “No. We would’ve never worked in high school, I wasn’t ready for that. I think we were always destined to end up here, we just needed time to work it out.”   
  


“Quinn Fabray, are you saying I’m your soulmate?” Rachel teases with a toothy smile. Quinn chuckles and shifts position so she can be on top of her girlfriend. 

“You’re my soulmate, Rachel Berry,” she confirms before leaning down to kiss her and pressing her thigh in between Rachel’s legs. 

\---

On the morning of pride in New York City, Quinn wakes up to banging on the door of Rachel’s new apartment where she now lives alone since Blaine and Sam found an apartment together a couple of months ago. 

“Any gays home?” she recognizes Jesse’s voice and she can imagine Sam enthusiastically banging next to him and Blaine behind them, trying to pretend he’s not with them. 

“Hm,” Rachel moans, shifting away from their cuddle position to use her pillow to block the noise. “Make it stop” her muffled voice says. Quinn sighs, rubbing her eyes sleepily and getting up from bed. 

“Alright, alright!” she calls out loudly when the knocking doesn’t stop and she opens the door, glaring at the three boys in front of her and refusing to let them through.

Sam grins at her, “Hey Quinnie!”

She looks at him, channeling that head bitch in charge look that never even worked on him. “What the fuck you guys,” she spits out and turns her head to look at the time, “it’s not even 9 AM.” Sam knows she’s cranky before 10, he shouldn’t be surprised. 

Jesse chuckles and finds a way to push her gently to get inside and Sam follows, jumping up and down behind him and Blaine smiles apologetically at her so she just lets him through with a gesture of defeat. Jesse goes right in the bedroom (where Quinn is staying right now for the summer) and seconds later, she hears a loud laugh coming from Rachel.

The two of them reunited not too long ago when they bumped into each other at NYADA and even though Quinn was strongly against him at first, he turned out to be quite charming since he matured a lot since high school. And to be honest, Quinn unfortunately couldn’t possibly judge him for high school mistakes, especially towards Rachel. 

Quinn goes into the kitchen to get some coffee and Sam sits on one of the stools, almost falling in the process but he steadies himself on Blaine. 

“Please don’t break Rachel’s apartment,” Quinn says in a bored tone, watching the coffee fall in her cup. 

“It’s almost your apartment too at this point, you’re always here.”

Quinn glares at Sam to hide her blush. “Shut up. Why would I spend summer in my small ass dorm room when my girlfriend has an apartment?”

“Are you going to move in with her after you graduate?” Blaine asks her and Quinn is about to say they haven’t talked about it yet but Rachel arrives in the kitchen wearing a tank top Quinn recognizes as hers and she smacks her butt.

“She better,” the brunette says with a wink. “I don’t survive without her cooking.”

Quinn feels her heart flutter at her girlfriend’s words and how easy it was for her to talk about moving in together. She wants that so bad. She always felt a certain way towards Rachel, she never found someone that could make her feel the same way the diva does and to be here now and having Rachel like her back, Quinn never imagined she would ever experience that and she’s determined to not let it go; she can see a real future with Rachel. 

She leans in and kisses Rachel’s cheek sweetly and Sam gags while Blaine and Jesse smile at them and Quinn turns her head to glare at her best friend. 

“Why are you guys here anyways? Weren’t we supposed to meet up there along with Santana and Brittany?”

Jesse shrugs, reaching to grab one of the bananas in the fruit bowl. “We thought we’d give y’all a visit.”

“Wow thanks,” Quinn deadpans at the same time that Rachel says “That’s so sweet!” 

Sam ends up sprawled over the living room couch with Blaine sitting on the floor and Rachel and Jesse are singing and dancing loudly all over the apartment. Quinn watches them with a smile as she packs her bags with everything they need for the day. 

After two showers and having to wake up Sam who fell asleep mid-conversation with Jesse, they finally arrive at the meet-up place where Santana and Brittany are already waiting. 

It ends up probably being one of Quinn’s best day of her life. She spends the whole day holding hands with Rachel who’s bouncing and shouting the whole time, radiating happiness. They walked a few miles in the parade, well they all walked except for Quinn because Sam decided he’d give her a piggyback ride to so she wrapped one arm around his neck and waved her lesbian flag with the other hand. They take way too many pictures for Quinn’s comfort but when she sees them at the end of the day, it makes it all worth it. There’s loads with her and Rachel where they’re grinning at the camera or Quinn is kissing her cheek, some where she’s on Sam’s back and she even has a couple with Santana and Brittany. Her favorite is the one who was taken by a stranger and they’re all on the picture, all holding their own flags with  _ pride _ . 

She posts them on social media afterwards because she’s out and happy and she has a girlfriend and she’s definitely not alone. 

  
  


**June 2017**

\---

When she wakes up on June 1st 2017, there’s the same text that she’s found for the past 5 years and she chuckles reading it. 

_ Shammy: _

Happy pride, Quinnie! Today is the big day!

She gets out of bed, without bothering to reply and grabs her glasses before slipping out of the room. She heads straight for the coffee maker and a voice from behind her surprises her. 

“Good morning.”

With her hand on her heart, she turns and meets Blaine who’s in pajamas and a bathrobe.

“God, you scared me. Good morning.”

He chuckles, “Sorry. Should I have come ringing a bell?”

“It’s because she’s used to Rachel being so loud she can’t hide from anyone,” Sam suddenly appears and Quinn chuckles. 

“Well you’re not wrong.”

He smiles at her and opens his arms. “No,” she says making a move to grab her cup of coffee but he snatches her away before and presses a loud kiss on her temple while squeezing her with her arms. She gives up after a while and hugs him back.

“Happy pride Sham,” she says with her face in his shoulder.

“I can’t believe you chose this day.”

“What other day would I have chosen to get married?” Quinn says, pulling away and the butterflies swarm her stomach once again at the thought. 

She’s getting married today. She’s getting married to Rachel Berry, soon to be Rachel Fabray-Berry. She proposed a little bit less than a year ago, a year and a half after they started dating because she didn’t need too much time to figure out Rachel was the love of her life and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with her. It had been a simple proposal, just her and Rachel after a nice candlelit dinner, in the middle of their living room. Quinn had suddenly dropped down on one knee and Rachel had gasped and barely let Quinn get all the words out before she was saying yes. Rachel had wanted a summer wedding and Quinn had always had a special connection to this month so what better day than the first day of pride month?

“How are you feeling?”

She looks at Blaine and takes a deep breath, “Excited, nervous, exhilarated, thrilled, elated, happy.” 

“Wow, you'd never guess she’s a writer or something.” Sam deadpans and she jabs a finger in his stomach, making him squirm away laughing. 

“Shut up before I choose another best man.”

“Whatever bro, you know I gave you the best bachelorette party ever.”

She scoffs, “Sure.”

He sticks out his tongue at her and so does she and Blaine snorts. “I am so glad Quinn doesn’t live with us, this would be a disaster.”

Quinn opens her mouth to defend herself but she closes it when she realizes he’s completely right. If Blaine hadn’t been there yesterday night, the two of them would have gone to bed at 2 AM playing video games but it’s the boy that came to see them at 11 and glared at Quinn, telling her she was getting married tomorrow so she better get the hell to bed. If it was any other occasion, she would have ripped him to shreds for talking to her like that but he was a 100% right. Rachel had insisted they spent the day apart so there’s no chances of them seeing each other before so Quinn had spent the night in her best friend’s apartment. She missed waking up next to Rachel but to think she’s gonna wake up tomorrow in Paris for their honeymoon will make it all worth it. 

The morning is pretty hectic, she makes it to the venue where she gets her hair and makeup done and then she puts on the dress with Brittany and Sam in the room while Santana and Jesse are with Rachel. She looks at herself in the mirror with a smile and behind her, she can see the two blondes getting teary-eyed. 

“Don’t start crying on me, Samson,” she says with a voice crack and damn, she’s already getting emotional too. Her best friend just smacks her shoulder and Brittany gasps and tells him not to hit the bride on her wedding day. 

She’s the first one to walk down the aisle because she insisted she wanted to see Rachel walk to her. Quinn thinks one of the most emotional moments of her life has been asking Hiram to walk with her. He of course said yes with tears running down his cheeks and she had teared up too and so had Rachel and Leroy. Like she said, it was very emotional.

So the music starts and Quinn joins Hiram who hands her his arm. She takes it with a shaky hand and he whispers to her, “You look radiant. I couldn’t have asked for someone better for my daughter, Quinn,” which makes her throat tighten so much, she can only nod with a tight lipped smile. 

Already at the altar is Blaine who got ordained for the occasion because the different religions made it complicated and they’d also much rather have one of their good friends do it for them. She looks at the crowd and she’s emotional to see everyone from the glee club made it, even Finn. The boy even gives her a thumbs up and she can’t be bothered to pretend she’s annoyed Rachel invited him anymore. Everyone she’s ever loved is in this room and she’s so happy they’re here to see her marry her soulmate. Hiram kisses her cheek and whispers some more sweet words at him before taking his seat. Sam and Jesse then walk in, followed by Santana and Brittany and finally, the music changes and Quinn takes a deep breath. 

Rachel walks in with her arm around her dad, Leroy, and it instantly takes Quinn’s breath away. She’s pretty sure her jaw drops a little but she couldn’t be sure because her sole focus is on the woman walking towards her right now. She looks… beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, bewitching, all the synonyms in the world that can describe just how ravishing Rachel looks. Quinn can’t help but feel the tears spring up to her eyes and she breaks eye contact for a second to look at her best man who gives her an encouraging smile. Leroy kisses Rachel’s cheek and whispers something in her ear and then winks at Quinn before taking his seat next to his husband. Rachel stands in front of her and the blonde licks her lips before saying,

“You look… beautiful.”

Rachel chuckles a little at her and reaches to wipe a tear from Quinn’s cheek, “You look beautiful too, darling.”

Blaine smiles at them and then looks at the crowd, “Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Quinn Fabray and Rachel Berry…” he continues speaking but Quinn tunes him out, too busy admiring the woman standing in front of her right now. She is so happy at this moment and she can’t believe she’s really marrying Rachel, her crush since forever, right now. The blonde is pretty sure she was put on this earth just to make her way here, at this very venue in New York City, standing in front of Rachel Berry.

“Quinn, you prepared your vows, yes?

She nods and he gestures at her that she can go so she turns back to Rachel, taking both of her hands in hers. “Hey Rach,” she says in a shaky breath, making a few people giggle. “So I never imagined in a million years I would be standing here today but here I am. I remember one time looking at two girls holding hands in the streets and turning to Sam and asking him “do you think I’ll be able to do that someday?” and he instantly said yes. I don’t know if I even believed him at that moment because it was hard for me, coming to terms with being a lesbian and my feelings towards you and I definitely never thought one day I’d be as happy as I am. But I am. And you’re a big reason why. You make my life so much better, so much brighter. You give me inspiration to wake up every morning and be me and I’m so grateful for that. You have held my heart in your hands since I was a tiny repressed teenager, Rach and I can’t believe you trust me with yours. But I vow to never break it and to love it till the day I die. I love you so much,” she finishes, her voice cracking at the end and Rachel has tears in her eyes too. 

“Rachel,” Blaine says and the brunette nods. 

“Hey Quinn,” she says, teasing the blonde. “You have made me… the happiest woman on earth. Now I’m not a writer like you and I don’t have a way with words usually because I make a living using someone else's words,” she pauses because a few people laugh and she continues, “But I love you. It’s as simple and complicated as that. I fell in love with you because of the way you smile at me, the way you’re honest with me, the way you push me to be the best person I can be. It was always inevitable falling for you. I don’t think people were really prepared for us of all people to end up together but for me, it makes sense. My life makes sense when I’m with you. When I wake up next to you, when I hold your hand, when I kiss you, I realize over and over again I was meant to live with you by my side. So I vow to always be by your side for the rest of my life and to love you till the day I die.”

Quinn has now given up on trying to keep the tears from falling and she wipes her cheek with the back of her hand and she’s pretty sure her face is going to crack soon by how hard she’s smiling.

“Do you, Lucy Quinn Fabray, take Rachel Barbra Berry, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do,” Quinn says and she’s never meant anything more.

“Do you, Rachel Barbra Berry, take Lucy Quinn Fabray, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?”

“I do,” Rachel says looking straight into her eyes. 

“Quinn, repeat after me:  I, Quinn, promise to love and support you, Rachel and live each day with kindness, understanding, truth, humor, and passion. With this ring I thee wed.”

The blonde takes a deep breath, taking the ring that’s handed to her and takes Rachel’s hand to slip the ring on her finger. “I, Quinn, promise to love and support you, Rachel and live each day with kindness, understanding, truth, humor, and passion. With this ring I thee wed.”

Rachel lets out a teary chuckle and Quinn smiles at her while Blaine instructs her to do the same thing.

“I, Rachel, promise to love and support you, Quinn and live each day with kindness, understanding, truth, humor, and passion. With this ring I thee wed,” she repeats after Blaine and takes Quinn’s hand to slip the ring on her ring finger. 

“Go now in peace and live in love, sharing the most precious gifts you have- the gifts of your lives united. And may your days be long on this earth. I now pronounce you wife and wife.” Blaine says and he looks at Quinn, “You may now kiss the bride.”

The blonde doesn’t hesitate before grabbing Rachel’s face and kissing her and she can hear the cheers of everyone in the background but she’s too busy enjoying kissing her  _ wife _ for the first time. She finally pulls away and faces the crowd and she smiles at the way they’re all standing up and clapping for them. She can only see smiles and tears (Sam’s bawling at this point) and she sees only the people that she loves. She’s not even sad that her parents are not there because she’s not alone as she stands her holding her wife’s hand. 

She’s with her true family. 

**Author's Note:**

> There you go! I hope you guys liked this and if you did make sure to leave kudos and a comment! It's highly appreciated!! 
> 
> Find me on twitter if you want: @chloebeaie


End file.
